France bans meat descriptors for vegetarian substitutes

France’s Federal Parliament has passed new legislation banning words traditionally used to describe meat as descriptors for vegetarian options.

The ban applies to using words such as steak, sausage, burger and bacon when the food product contains no meat.

Due to the ban descriptors such as “veggie burger”, “veggie sausage” and “vegetarian bacon” are no longer allowed.

Those who continue to use meat descriptors on vegetarian or vegan products in France will now face fines of up the equivalent of AUD $480, 000.

The new law was proposed by French MP and cattle farmer, Jean-Baptiste Moreau, who said using meat descriptors for non-meat products mislead consumers.

With the increase in popularity of plant-based food in recent years, there has been a push back from non-plant-based producers across the world trying to retain the right to words traditionally used to describe meat and dairy products.

In 2017, Australian dairy industry group, Dairy Connect, started an online petition to try and restrict the use of the word milk to dairy products.

Last year also saw the European Court of Justice decide that only dairy products could use milks like milk, cream, butter and cheese.